By all accounts, country superstar Carrie Underwood will treat her fans not just to a bevy of hits but also a dazzling stage production when her Blown Away Tour opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Freeman Coliseum.

The show starts with a take on “The Wizard of Oz” with a brief video of her running from a tornado and then emerging onstage from a wind-blown house, according to reports.

Later, a small stage appearing to be lifted by hot-air balloons takes her and a few band members aloft over the audience.

“It's nice to see everybody. We have the best seat in the house, I think,” The Roanoke, Va., Times quoted Underwood in a review.

As the stage descends to the island beat of “One Way Ticket,” beach balls and confetti shower the crowd.

Brad Paisley also joins her via video on their duet “Remind Me.” She also whips through four costume changes.

“Leaving fans and music industry pals thoroughly awed by the perfect storm of visuals, special effects and, of course, Carrie's amazing vocals,” a www.theboot.com reviewer wrote.

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This year's tour so far is selling out arenas after the first leg in 2012 played to more than 500,000 fans at 62 shows and was ranked the top female country tour of the year, according to industry tracker Pollstar.

She also won that honor for her two other arena tours, 2008's Carnival Ride Tour and 2010's Play On Tour.

After the tour ends in May, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville will stage Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour from June 5 through Nov. 10. The exhibition will include costumes, instruments, microphones and pieces from the set.

Opening for Underwood will be Hunter Hayes, the 21-year-old Grammy nominee who's often called the Justin Bieber of country music.

His self-titled 2011 album launched a trio of hit singles including the No. 1 “Wanted.” A deluxe edition of his debut album is set for release June 18.

Hayes also appeared on Underwood's set to sing with her on “Leave Love Alone,” according to one review, which pointed out that he also showed off his chops on the piano and guitar.

Hayes, the Country Music Association's reigning new artist of the year, was nominated for three Grammys — country album, new artist and country solo performance for “Wanted.” Underwood won the latter for “Blown Away,” her sixth Grammy.

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In concert

Who: Carrie Underwood, with Hunter Hayes opening

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston St.

Tickets: $41.50-$61.50 through Ticketmaster. $1 from each ticket will be donated to the Red Cross

“Two Black Cadillacs,” the third single from Underwood's fourth album “Blown Away,” last month became her 17th No. 1 single and her eighth as a songwriter.

Underwood, reared on the family farm in Checotah, Okla., was the first country singer to win “American Idol,” during the fourth season in 2005, and has become its most successful contestant.

Since her 2005 debut “Some Hearts” (Billboard's No. 1 Country Album of the decade), she has sold more than 15 million albums. She is only the second country artist whose first four albums debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's country chart. She also is the only country artist to have three albums in a row debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.

This fall, Underwood will star as Maria von Trapp in a Broadway musical based on “The Sound of Music.”